With particular reference to FIGS. 6 to 11, automobile 1 is divided by dashboard 3 into engine compartment 2 and passenger compartment 4. The wire harness to be installed consists of inner wire harness W/H-1 and outer wire harness W/H-2. The former is located in engine compartment 2 and the latter in passenger compartment 4 on dashboard 3. Main wire W is secured by clamp 5 to bracket 6 (FIG. 8A) which, in turn, is affixed to engine E. Similarly, wire W is gripped by clamp 10 which is affixed to bracket 9 which is attached to suspension tower 8. Protector 11 is mounted on branch W1.
As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8B, inner harness W/H-1 passes through dashboard 3 by way of penetration hole 3a and extends on the other side as outer harness W/H-2. Grommet 7 acts both to secure the wire harness and seal penetration hole 3a. Outer harness W/H-2 is secured to dashboard 3 by switching clamps 12.
However, there is a particular problem which arises in such devices. FIG. 9(A) shows inner wire harness W/H-1 in its normal condition. When this is compared with FIG. 9(B), it can be seen that the axial line (shown in phantom) of FIG. 9(A) is a spiral in FIG. 9(B). This is intended to indicate that inner wire harness W/H-1 has been distorted by twisting about its axis.
When this occurs, as shown in FIG. 10, branch W1 is moved from its straight-line position as shown in FIG. 10(A) to the curved condition as shown in FIG. 10(B). When this happens, there is always the danger that branch W1 will not be long enough to make its intended connection.
A similar problem is found with outer harness W/H-2. In FIG. 11(A), the normal state is shown. Switching clamps 12 fasten outer harness W/H-2 to the dashboard and branches W2, W3, and W4 extend therefrom to the various devices to which they are to be connected. However, outer harness W/H-2 may become twisted, the results of which are shown in FIG. 11(B). Branches W2, W3, W4 in undistorted condition are shown in solid lines, while their positions when outer harness W/H-2 is twisted are shown in chain double dot lines. A section transverse to the axis of outer harness W/H-2 is shown in FIG. 11(C). Here it can be seen how the branches are moved out of position. Because of this, branches W2, W3, and W4 must be curved to bring them to the desired connections. However, this, as in the case of inner harness W/H-1, may leave the branches short of their intended destination.